SAUDI CLERICS BAN THE 99 COMICS AND CARTOONS

Saudi Arabia’s top clerics have declared an Islam-inspired cartoon series, which earned praise from US President Barack Obama, a “work of the devil” that Muslims should not watch.

The television version of superhero comic book “The 99″ is being aired by Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC3, based in Dubai in the neighboring United Arab Emirates.

But in a religious decree carried by Saudi websites on Monday, the clerics ruled the series blasphemous because the superheroes of its title are based on the 99 attributes ascribed to Allah in the Koran.

“The 99 is a work of the devil that should be condemned and forbidden in respect to Allah’s names and attributes,” the clerics, led by the kingdom’s mufti, Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, said.

The original comic strip version, first released in 2006, had already ran into opposition from Muslim hardliners not only in Saudi Arabia but also in neighboring Kuwait, where it was created and produced by media executive Nayef al-Matawa.

That's interesting how, even in the publisher's very own country, it met with scowls of disapproval. One reason could be because at least one of the female characters in the comic doesn't wear a burka, and a lot of Islamofascists detest the idea of depicting women even remotely as heroines.

This shows that no matter how pro-Islam the comic and cartoon are, many Islamofascists will still shun the product. Al-Mutawa must be feeling very bewildered yet incapable of understanding how censorship works under his own religion.